artemis and draco
by sad115
Summary: this is a story i hade to write for my english class and i decided to post it


**Why Onions Make You Cry**

**The story of Artemis And Draco**

**by sad115**

Once a long time before Artemis was love and marriage hating, or even before she was a

goddess, she was an athletic young woman who had always loved the hunt.

But most of all she loved competitive sports. She was undefeatable in all the sports

Except one, the chariot race. Whenever she set foot on the chariot even the

Calmest and most well trained horses started jumping about and lurching in fear. It was

as if they expected her to kill them or to drive them to the wolves. One time

when Artemis was competing in the finals of the sword fighting event she went up

against the most recent gladiator champion. They faced each other and saw

each others faces and immediately fell in love. Each could not fight the other let alone

kill them, so strong was their sudden love.

They refused to fight against each other and the spectators went mad with rage because of

their long awaited excitement ruined. Both Artemis and Draco had been unbeatable so far

and this match was expected and attended by all the nobility of Greece and Rome and even

a couple of the gods, Ares and Hera. Everyone had long expected this match, which was

more awaited then Demeter's nine day harvest festival which only came once every five

years. So full of rage from being deprived of an event to be talked about for centuries to

come the gods and nobility organized in the only time that man and god worked together

for a common goal (except the Trojan war of course)

. They devised a quick plan on how to punish the two young athletes.

They let the gates to the loins, tigers and wolves' dens open. Artemis and Draco were

flooded with angry confused and hungry wild animals, but they weren't the best athletes

in history without a reason. They ran right out of the arena and the kept running because

they heard the sounds of the crowd going after them. When they stopped running they

were so tired they just fell on the ground and slept. When they awoke they immediately

embraced each other, when they let go of each other they got their bearings. Apparently

they were in a forest in the middle of somewhere to the side of nowhere.

The two young lovers speculated on the situation that had befallen them: They had a

murderous mob after them and no food or water with them. Being fighters in the arena

they mostly had to fight for themselves, therefore they didn't develop a strong belief in

the gods. Now with fortune against them they abandoned all belief in the goodness of the

gods thinking that no merciful and good gods would sent a horde of one hundred

thousand people after two fighters guilty only of the sin of love. The gods of course

immediately knew of their thoughts, Artemis and Draco were in for some brutal

punishments for their lack of belief. After their angering of the gods things only got

worse for the young couple, All the gods except for, mysteriously Zeus, were after their

blood. The gods strengthened the bloodthirsty crowds anger by a thousand fold.

Not long after they wore up Draco and Artemis heard the rumbling of many galloping

horses in the distance. They knew they couldn't possibly escape by running away so they

started looking for a place to hide away. They came upon a small cave and amazingly

they saw a chariot with horses beside it. After coming a bit closer Artemis noticed these

were the horses that always shrank away from her in fear during the chariot race

competitions. And surely when she came closer they started snorting and stomping in

fear. But she and Draco were to desperate to let that stop them.the stepped onto the

chariot, Artemis took the reins by which the horses had calmed down as if resigned to

their fate. And they made the horses break into a light run to conserve energy. As they

deeper into the woods the gods sent a pack of wolves after them which killed they horses

but from which Draco and Artemis miraculously escaped from, albeit with many small

cuts and bruises. What Artemis and Draco didn't know was that Zeus was the one who

allowed them to escape.

"Draco"

"Yes, Artemis?"

"How will we survive?" Artemis wailed close to sobs. "I know of a common plant with

edible roots, but it has a very unpleasant taste" replied Draco resignedly. "In fact, I see a

patch of it right over there" he said, his voice raising with the excitement of a starving

man finding food. They both fell upon the plants and immediately began digging with

their bare hands for the bulbous roots. They immediately started devouring them not

caring of the roots' dirty state and highly unpleasant taste. After eating all of the bulbs

that they could find they became very thirsty not having drunk anything after their flight

by foot.

They went looking for fresh water, and then they found a small but surprisingly deep

stream. They drank the water until they were satisfied. Then they wanted to go into the

stream and bathe their wounds. As soon as they jumped into the water they experienced

unbelievable pain as if they jumped into salt water, but they knew that the water they

drank was fresh. Through their haze of pain they hardly managed to crawl out of the

water before mercifully losing consciousness. When they awoke they found themselves

in the clouds with the most enchanting music they have ever heard playing softly. They

said the word at the same time: "Olympus"

When they stood up and turned around they both yelled in fright, for before them was

lying an enormous winged lizard, larger than the largest elephant they have ever seen.

Draco cautiously approached the lizard which seemed to be asleep. When he got closer to

the head, it's eyes snapped open and lifted it's ferocious head displaying his deadly teeth

and he licked the side of Draco's face in the manner of a playful puppy. Artemis came

closer to the enormous lizard and Draco. "I think this beast may just be our passage back

to home". They both mounted the animal and Draco fashioned reins out of their sandals'

strings. Then Draco kicked the lizard's sides with his heels (well, as much as he could)

to start flying. They started flying when not long after all the Gods except strangely Zeus

stopped them. They violently flung Artemis and Draco from the lizard. They kicked them

until they were crouching before them.

Hades seemed to be the one speaking for the rest of the gods. "You will renounce our

ways and thoughts about the gods" he said, his voice sounding cruelly imperious.

"Besides", he said with a smirk, "it's not like we are giving you a choice". Draco was the

first of the two to speak, he said one simple word "No".

Pain. Pain is what Artemis could remember after Draco said no. They found out exactly

what it meant it meant to say no to a god. First they tortured Artemis in front of Draco.

They made many cuts on her, most of which she should have been dead from a long time

ago. But it seemed they were keeping her alive to prolong the pain. The unmerciful gods

poured salt into the cuts, she screamed until blood came out of her mouth. She wished it

would just end so that she could sink into the blissful arms of death. But it wouldn't end,

Draco kept on trying to brake free but he was powerless against the gods. Then came the

most painful part for Artemis, when they tortured her precious Draco. They broke his

bones slowly so that he could feel them splintering inside his skin. They popped all his

joints loose so that he was in additional constant pain. And all that time they made

Artemis watch in helpless agony while they tortured him, her sweet Draco, her lover, her

friend. Then they told him to ask Artemis if she loved him, he asked, but she

couldn't answer. The gods held her mouth closed with their power. she saw betrayal in

his eyes. She had killed him he looked dead, like he had nothing to live for anymore.

Then they killed him. It was all oh-so-slow and painful he screamed until his voice box

broke. Then he could only twitch and spasm in constant agony, his eyes wide with pain

and betrayal. Finally and at long last he was welcomed by everlasting death.

And then the gods moved on to Artemis. But before they could kill her Zeus burst into

the scene Yelling with murderous rage as he drove all the other gods away. After healing

Artemis Zeus explained that she was actually his and Leto's daughter and that she was a

goddess and that was why she didn't die. But she was sent away from mount Olympus as

a baby. The reason for that was because the oracle at Delphi predicted that the next child

of Zeus (Artemis) would cause the other gods to do great misdeeds. So the other gods

decided to imprison her under the ever watchful eye of Argus. But Zeus didn't like that

idea so he secretly sent her to Greece until she could meet her destiny as a goddess.

After that Artemis started living in mount Olympus, and of course none of the gods

recognized her as the battered, starved and helpless human they had tortured. But Artemis

had two requests for Zeus, that he make bulbous root that Draco had survived on make

anyone who looked at it weep in honor of Draco's pain, and the other request was that the

lizard who had almost saved be given Draco's name. As time went on Artemis got more

adjusted to life, but the pain of Draco's love and death was always in her heart.

Finis


End file.
